Health care workers for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California have commenced a historic three-day strike, as negotiations for contract agreements have proven unsuccessful, according to their union.
The strike began at 3 a.m. on the East Coast and at 6 a.m. throughout Southern California, making it the largest strike of its kind in U.S. history.
Kaiser officials stated that talks are ongoing and could continue into the night.
Although several agreements have been reached over certain provisions with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, Kaiser’s negotiators are fully prepared to work around the clock to achieve a fair agreement and prevent the 6 a.m. strike.
Kaiser issued a statement regarding the negotiations on Wednesday.
“Both Kaiser Permanente management and coalition union representatives are still at the bargaining table, having worked through the night in an effort to reach an agreement,” said Terry Kankari, Senior Media Relations Specialist for Kaiser.
“There has been significant progress, including reaching agreements on several specific proposals late Tuesday. We remain committed to reaching a new agreement that provides employees with competitive wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement plans, and valuable professional development opportunities.”
Kaiser officials stressed that a strike is not inevitable and not warranted. Their goal is to reach a fair and equitable agreement that maintains Kaiser Permanente as an exceptional place to work and ensures affordable, accessible, high-quality care for members.
However, the union continues to plan picketing starting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday at Kaiser locations across the state. Approximately 75,000 Kaiser workers in California and other states are expected to participate.
“Kaiser executives are refusing to listen to us and are negotiating in bad faith regarding the solutions needed to address the Kaiser short-staffing crisis,” said Jessica Cruz, a licensed vocational nurse at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center. “We’re burning ourselves out trying to do the jobs of two or three people, and our patients suffer as a result.”
Picketing is also planned at Kaiser facilities in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Orange counties, and other states such as Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., according to the union.
The workers’ contract expired on Saturday, but negotiations have continued since then.
Among the workers participating in the strike are licensed vocational nurses, emergency department technicians, radiology technicians, ultrasound sonographers, teleservice representatives, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, certified nursing assistants, dietary services, behavioral health workers, surgical technicians, pharmacy technicians, transporters, home health aides, phlebotomists, and medical assistants, according to union officials.
The union accuses Kaiser of cutting performance bonuses, lacking protection against subcontracting, offering inadequate wage increases, and failing to maintain sufficient staffing levels.
Kaiser, on the other hand, states that they are offering wage increases across the board, starting at $21 an hour. The company denies allegations of slashing performance bonuses and raising premiums without any correlation to healthcare costs or improvements in care.
“In Southern California, where our wages significantly exceed market levels, we are offering wage increases of 10% over four years and lump sum bonuses of 4% to ensure our employees are well compensated,” Kaiser stated.
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